6 Things I Wish I Knew Before Exploring Angkor Wat

For some, visiting the ruins of Angkor Wat is one their bucket list. One must understand, when traveling, research is key.

Normally I would go out of my way to research the place via the internet and series of data gathering from my friends who have first hand experience but this time   I allowed my sister to be in charge in this tour.

We just thought, ” Hey its just 3 days and we are  only visiting Angkor Wat anyway so what’s the rush. Let’s be adventurous this time.” And so we did.

Every tourist should be responsible  especially when going out of the country.  There was a time when we got stressed  in this trip because our hotel informed us  the 20USD Travel Tax we have to pay in the airport,  only to find out our travel agent had it covered already.

This article is a follow up of my feature  entitled Honeymoon With My Family. You can click this site for more information: https://mindanaoinsider.wordpress.com/2019/05/21/honeymoon-with-my-family/

From my personal experience, I wrote down here the 6 things I should have known before packing up my bags for Cambodia particularly in Siem Rip and Angkor Wat:

1. HOLD ON TO YOUR DOLLAR. When we arrived at the airport we went to money exchange only to find out tuktuk, stores and restaurant prefer dollars over their Cambodian Riel . Our hotel was approximately  30 mins away from Angkor Wat but we need to hire a tuktuk just to find an ATM. What I like about it though, their loose dollars ( ex. 1USD) is the same value of the 100USD bill.

2. CHOOSE SUNRISE. The tour of Angkor Wat includes  the view of their amazing sunrise or sunset. We picked sunset because I’m not an early riser, then the horror came in because the weather was so hot we suffered from headache in the middle of the tour. We  never made it to the sunset  because we have to leave early.

3. BOOK A TOUR PRIOR TO YOUR ARRIVAL. This is no brainer right? But we decided to book it in the hotel because we thought it will be a lot cheaper. Later I found out from a friend that they  booked their tour at VIATOR app and they were satisfied of the service. The app offer tour  packages not just Angkor Wat  and varies  to your preferred price range.

4. UNDERSTAND THAT ESSENTIALS ARE  COSTLY. Maybe the cost in Siem Reap is  no big deal for you but  within the area from where I stayed and had a tour,  to pay 1USD for a cup rice is insane and 1 USD for 1 liter of water is rip off.  Yes hotels give you complimentary water but it’s not enough. The weather in Cambodia is so hot you will end up thirsty time and time again. So when buy your water, buy the biggest one so that you will not hire tuktuk going back and forth whenever you need it. My tip is, whatever your water needs on a daily basis double it.

Souvenirs also cost a lot, I found out though  that shopping for fashionable  clothes and bags are quite a bargain here compared to Bangkok.

5. REALIZE THAT NO IS NO, MAYBE IS YES. This was a tip from our tour guide Tak . When vendors see tourists they flocked at them and you can get overwhelmed by 5 vendors selling you the same T shirt. Immediately say No or else they will follow you around. If you don’t want a stressful shopping go to their Night Market instead they call it Pub Street.

Tak also advised us not to buy from children because we are not helping them. We are allowing them to be in the streets and not go to school.

6. GET THAT FREE SIM CARD. Hotels and even the airport will give the tourists a sim card for free. Some of us never bothered to have because we prefer Wifi. Prior to this travel I already got sim card from Bangkok and   I thought that time I no longer need a new one.

I should have got it because during the tour in one of the temples, my sister and her husband’s  family got lost and I can’t contact them, good thing our tuktuk driver has her digits.

Hey! This write up doesn’t mean my life was a mess during this trip. I had a great time because I choose to have a great time  and Angkor Wat was all worth it to endure this experience.

I hope you find this helpful. What do you think about this article? 😀

Have you visited Angkor Wat? Do we share the same sentiments? Tell us about it.